U.S. women’s hockey blows out rival Canada to stay undefeated at the end of preliminary round

Team USA women’s ice hockey dominated Canada in what was thought to be a gold medal match preview.

The United States defeated arch-rival Canada 5-0 in their final preliminary game at the Milan Cortina Olympics. It’s the first time the Canadian women’s team has ever been shut out in the Olympics.

Both teams came into the game undefeated in group play, 3-0 and 2-0, respectively.

But even though the goals were one-sided, it was a high-energy game. NBC even reports that there was a scrap at the end of the first period, after Canada’s Laura Stacey and USA’s Rory Guilday had a small collision in front of the U.S. goal.

Historically, the gold medal has either gone to Canada or the United States during the Olympics or world championships. Since women’s hockey debuted at the Olympics in 1998, Canada has won gold five times and the United States won gold twice. The two teams have faced off in every gold medal game except for 2006.

The quarterfinals start on Friday.

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